PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The overall goal of the Administrative Core of the Digestive Diseases Research Core Center (DDRCC) at the University of Chicago is to provide leadership and strategic vision to foster and expand gastrointestinal-related research by its clinical and basic science faculty, particularly in the areas of IBD, and the immunology, inflammation, and microbiology of the GI tract. These themes have defined our GI program ever since Dr. Joseph B Kirsner put forward the hypothesis over 75 years ago that IBD was caused by genetic, immunological, and microbial factors. The goals of the Administrative core are to foster and expand gastrointestinal-related research by its clinical and basic science faculty, particularly in the areas of IBD, and the immunology, inflammation, and microbiology of the GI tract. The core will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the DDRCC, including strategic, scientific, and operational directions to insure effectiveness and impact of the program. It will continue to seek opportunities to foster interaction and collaborations among its members. Researchers in the DDRCC are now routinely confronted with data sets of significant sizes, requiring the use of clusters, clouds or supercomputers. In anticipation of this growing need, the Administrative Core created the Computational Analysis and Modeling Resource (CAMR) component that a ?one stop shopping? resource to help DDRCC investigators in bioinformatics, biostatistics, high-throughput microbial analysis and modeling & simulation. The CAMR will assist them in the design, execution and interpretation of research projects. The proceedings of the monthly Executive Committee meetings are reviewed on an annual basis by the Internal Advisory Board (comprised of selected senior leaders in the Biological Sciences Division) and the Dean of Biological Sciences, Dr. Kenneth Polonsky. As the neutral review and sounding board, the External Advisory Board (EAB) of the DDRCC reviews all requests, reports, and recommendations of the Executive committee. The members of the EAB include 5 internationally renowned investigators who are leaders in the area of digestive diseases, particularly in the focus areas of the DDRCC. In summary, the Administrative core of the DDRCC provides leadership, strategic and programmatic vision, oversight, and management of a highly multidisciplinary program that foster interaction, collaboration, and synergy in studies of inflammatory bowel diseases and other related inflammatory diseases of the bowel.